Sunday, December 30, 2012

On December 29 Su Beng was
amongst those staging a protest outside of the Taipei Arena against a controversial Chinese
music concert that was to take place there.

The
controversy began on November 30th when the organizers of the Chinese Music Chart awards (aka the Chinese Grammy awards) announced in Beijing that the 2012 award presentation ceremony would be held in Taipei to mark the chart's 20th anniversary. This declaration came as a complete surprise to Taiwan's authorities and Taiwan's opposition parties felt that it was an affront to Taiwan's sovereignty. Also of concern were the award ceremony's 16 award categories, which are divided into two groups-- China and Hong Kong/Taiwan. After much deliberation, and at the request of Taiwan's authorities, the event was changed from an awards show to a concert and the mention of geographic areas were based on the legal terms used by Taiwan-- the Taiwan area, the Mainland Area, Hong Kong and Macau.The story was covered on television in Taiwan's evening news here:

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

From September 21-23 Su Beng was honored by the Taipei
City Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Foundation and I was invited to write an essay
about him, which was shared on September 22.

Here's the essay I wrote
in English: Su Beng, A Renaissance Man

By Felicia Lin, Su Beng’s Biographer

Most know Su Beng as an outspoken activist,
advocate of independence for Taiwan, and historian. Now in his nineties, he
maintains a very active schedule frequently speaking to the youth of Taiwan,
and appearing at political rallies and demonstrations. Since 1994, his Taiwan
Independence Action motorcade has been making weekly rounds in Taipei and
delivering messages about self-determination. Now also in Tai Chung and
Kaohsiung, he and the motorcade are an ever-present fixture at major rallies in
Taiwan.

For some, Su Beng is a controversial figure. A
self-professed Marxist revolutionary, this label has earned him a great deal of
misunderstanding. During the seven years that he worked undercover with the
Chinese Communists, he grew increasingly disillusioned and refused to join the
Chinese Communist party. Eventually he escaped from the party and out of China
back to Taiwan in 1949. By 1951 he had begun plotting to assassinate Chiang
Kai-Shek. Consequently he was forced to flee to Japan in 1952 where he was
eventually given political asylum. There he turned his food stall into a
thriving noodle shop selling Chinese fried noodles and dumplings in the 1960s.
In 1962 and 1980 respectively, Su published the Japanese language and Chinese
language versions of Taiwan’s 400 Years of History. Written while
Taiwan was still under martial law, much of the data cited in the book was
actually smuggled out of the Kuomintang’s secret files and out of Taiwan into
Japan through Su Beng’s underground network. This seminal work will certainly
be one of his most lasting contributions. But there’s even more to this man.
He’s more than just a public figure, a man of conviction, opinions and vision.

What many do not know about Su Beng is that he is a
man with a deep appreciation of music, art, literature and fine food. In fact,
he’s quite a classical music fanatic. In one of our many interviews for his
English memoir, he told me that as a student at Tokyo’s Waseda University, he
was so obsessed with classical music and that he had a collection of 8, 000
records, which included Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert,
Debussy and Ravel. As you can imagine, to get to a collection of that size, he
went to considerable lengths– spending his entire monthly allowance, and even
pawning personal items. It seemed like nothing else mattered. On one
occasion, he was supposed to visit Hokkaido with one of his classmates, but
Beethoven’s Fifth had just been released, and Su Beng just had to have the
record. After a trip to the record store, he had spent most of the 20-30
Japanese yen that his grandmother had sent him for the trip to Hokkaido. The
story doesn’t end there. Su Beng kept up the ruse by writing out a postcard, and
asking his classmate to mail it to his grandmother in Taipei from Hokkaido.
That’s how obsessed he was with classical music.

Su Beng has had a lifelong love of music. At an
early age he was exposed to classical music by his uncle, who was a pianist and
countertenor. Incidentally, this uncle was also his adopted father. Since Su
Beng’s mother was an only child, Su Beng’s maternal grandmother adopted a boy
to carry on her husband’s family name, which was of course also Su Beng’s
mother’s maiden name. When Su Beng was born, he initially took his father’s
surname of Lin. Later, when he was adopted by this uncle, his surname was
changed to his mother’s maiden name Shih. Su Beng remembers his uncle fondly
for teaching him how to sing many Japanese children’s songs, which brought him
great joy in his childhood. And when his uncle went off to Tokyo to study
music, he would often bring Su Beng special toys from Japan, unlike any that
could be found in Taiwan. This made him the envy of the other children in
the neighborhood. Su Beng has said that even now, when he listens to
classical music, it reminds him of his uncle. As a young boy he frequently
accompanied his mother to Peking opera performances in Taipei and developed an
appreciation of it. So naturally, when he was in Beijing and Shanghai in
the 1940s he took advantage of the opportunity to watch Peking opera.

Music has been an important part of Su Beng’s life.
During the years in which he built an underground network of Taiwan
independence activists, he composed a song called “Taiwan Nationalism” to
inspire and motivate his underground operatives. This song has indeed become Su
Beng’s “theme song.” His Taiwan Action Motorcade propaganda trucks also feature
live percussion instruments. And even nowadays, when Su Beng writes, sometimes
in the wee hours of the morning, he likes to listen to music. He once told me
that he loves to listen to the songs of Joan Baez while he writes.

Su Beng’s love of art and culture also extends to
literature. As a student at Waseda University, new worlds opened up to him when
he read the works of Tolstoy, Emile Zola, Mountpassant, and Victor Hugo. Rainer
Maria Rilke is among his favorite poets.

And Su Beng also draws; he drew the cartoons in the
Cartoon Version of Taiwan’s 400 Year History book. And finally he is a
true connoisseur of fine food. The first time I visited him in his home in Shin
Zhang, he had prepared a lunch of cold Japanese style noodles. Whenever I eat
with him, I know that I will eat well. Su Beng grew up in an era in which
families commonly made their own soy sauce, and grew and pickled their own
vegetables. So as young boy, Su Beng developed a taste for fine food. This
skill also helped him in recreating recipes for the Northern Chinese style
fried noodles and dumplings he sold from his food stall in Tokyo. That business
was so successful in the 1960s, that in a few years time Su Beng was able to
expand it into a noodle shop.

With all of these talents, I’d say that Su Beng
truly is a renaissance man. The Taipei City Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Foundation
couldn’t have chosen a better person to honor. I join you in recognizing and
thanking Su Beng for his invaluable contributions to Taiwan.==================================================Here is a Chinese language translation of my essay:

Monday, September 3, 2012

When I was asked to contribute a piece about Su Beng for the Taipei City Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Foundation's event, I immediately knew what I was going to write about. I wanted to offer a different perspective on Su Beng. Most know him as a revolutionary, activist, and historian.

My essay is entitled: Su Beng, A Renaissance Man, and it will be shared on September 22nd. On that day, articles written by 葉治平 (Yeh Zhi Ping), and 黃界清 (Huang Jie Ching) will also be presented. A dance performance based on
the life story of Su Beng will follow.

I'll share my essay here on this blog after September 22, and I hope you'll see why it's fitting for the occasion.

On the first of three days, September 21, there will be a discussion between Su Beng (史明), his assistant Bin Hong (敏紅) and writer Lee Ming Yong (李敏勇).

Here's a poster with further details of the events planned by the Taipei City Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Foundation from September 21-23, 2012:

Saturday, September 1, 2012

I'm honored to have been invited to speak at the New York Taiwan Center (on Saturday, September 15, 2012 at 2pm) about documenting the life of Su Beng. In 2004 I was compelled to meet Su Beng and to tell his story after reading an English translation of an article that he had written in the Taipei Times. It was entitled, What is the legal basis for human rights?

Since then I've been working on writing his biography. Right now the working title of the biography is: THE CONSCIENCE OF TAIWAN: THE MEMOIRS OF SU BENG.

I'll be talking about my perspective as Su Beng's biographer, what compelled me to take on this project to write Su Beng's biography, and my big picture ideas for this project. There will be a "sneak preview" of the biography. I will be reading an excerpt from THE CONSCIENCE OF TAIWAN. Q&A will follow.

On April 8th Su Beng took to the streets with his Taiwan Independence Action
motorcade. For over fifteen years, every Saturday and Sunday the motorcade has
been making its rounds around Taipei city.

A Taiwan Independence Action motorcade propaganda truck.

Here’s a translation of what’s written on the side of the propaganda truck above:

NOTE: Each line should be read across from left to right, then from top to bottom.

Extinguish the foreign colonial system (top line, in yellow section)

Taiwan independence (second, middle line, in green)

The burden is on the people for the day that we break through the
darkness (third, bottom line, in red)

The two Chinese characters （獨立）on the back of the truck read: independence.

A banner with a message for the people of Taiwan is fastened to the side of a propaganda truck.

Each line on the red and white banner fastened to the side of this propaganda truck should be read from top to bottom, left to right, so essentially each line is actually a column. Here's a translation of the message on the banner:

One country two zones (first, left most column)

Means that China wants to eat up Taiwan (second column)

The Taiwanese should not be fooled (third column)

The Taiwanese must guard and protect Taiwan (fourth, far right column)

The Taiwan Independence Action motorcade is lined up and ready to go.

One unique feature of the propaganda trucks is the live aspect of it. The propaganda trucks are not just automatrons delivering an endless loop of canned, prerecorded messages and music. As you can see instruments like drums and cymbals are played by members of the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade, and people speak live over the megaphones to passersby.

Su Beng gets ready to toss flags to onlookers and passersby.

On the flags that Su Beng is waving is written 台灣民族主義, which translates as: Taiwan Nationalism.

On April 25th, Su Beng entered the hospital to have some medical tests run. Since his kidneys failed in 2009 Su Beng had been less ambulatory. While in the hospital he continued working on his writings.

In this photo, the Presidential Palace can be seen in the distance, at the end of the street.

MAY 12, 2012

On May 12th Su Beng spoke at 思想地下室演講, which has been translated as the Reflection Room (or more accurately basement, since 地下 means basement). At the talk Su Beng discussed his book 400 YEARS OF TAIWAN'S HISTORY and the Taiwan independence movement.

MAY 14, 2012

On May 14th Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade went to the front of the Taipei train station to participate in an eight-day rally calling for the release of former President Chen Shui-bian and protesting against President Ma Ying-jeou's poor performance while in office. There were more than 30 civic groups and pro-independence groups gathered there. To learn more about the eight-day rally, read this Taipei Times article about it.

Su Beng with this Taiwan Independence Action motorcade propaganda trucks in the background.

MAY 15 & MAY 17, 2012

Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade made its rounds in Taipei during the eight-day rally and leading up to a major rally to be organized by the Democratic Progressive Party on May 19, the eve of President Ma's second-term inauguration.

MAY 19, 2012

A mass protest of President Ma's poor governance and controversial policies was organized by the Democratic Progressive Party on May 19, the eve of President Ma's second-term inauguration on May 20. Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade joined the protest at the National Taiwan University. Read this Taipei Times article about the protest and what policies the public is protesting.

About Me

Since 2004 I've been documenting the life of Su Beng- a Taiwanese nonagenarian Marxist revolutionary and lifelong Taiwan independence activist, who spent 7 years working undercover for the Chinese Communists, tried to assassinate Chiang Kai-Shek, and wrote "Taiwan's 400 Years of History." Follow along as I unravel and explain the elusive contradictions of this man's life story. It's my job as Su Beng's biographer to tell this story of one man's idealism, passion, heroism, and humanism. I believe it is a story that will inspire and inform. As a first time biographer, I'll also share some of my reflections on my role as Su Beng's biographer.